Jacob Dijkstra

This postdoc is part of the ECHO project, Energy transition, Collective dynamics and Human Opinions in agent-networks , a collaboration between the University of Groningen and the University of Oldenburg. The research examines how societal debates about the energy transition develop, with a particular focus on the social and opinion dynamics behind attitudes toward local renewable energy initiatives. The Groningen-based part of the project is led from the Department of Sociology by Prof. Andreas Flache and is embedded in the research cluster Norms and Networks . The successful candidate will work closely with the wider international project team, including Prof. Sebastian Lehnhoff at the University of Oldenburg and Prof. Jacob Dijkstra at Groningen. The project also involves a PhD candidate and research assistants, offering a collaborative setting across institutions and disciplines. The postdoc will further develop existing agent-based opinion dynamics models so they can be applied to empirical settings relevant to debates on the energy transition. The work combines computational modelling with empirical social science, using social network data from communities and exploring how modelled opinion dynamics can be connected to observed societal behavior. Simulation work will make use of tools such as NetLogo or Python . A second core task is to compare and align these opinion dynamics models with LLM-based agent models developed by the German partner. The postdoc will contribute to the integration and evaluation of the two modelling approaches, and may also help test hypotheses using empirical social network data, behavioral experiments, or online data depending on expertise and project needs. The position is based within the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences and the Interuniversity Center of Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS) , giving access to a strong sociology research environment and opportunities for exchange and presentation of interim results. The role also includes a teaching contribution within the department.